Felt hat and the like



May'19, 1925. 1,538,072

R. S. TOMPKINS FELT HAT AND THE LIKE.

' Filed June 6, 1925 gwuembc R61 Tompkins;

Patented May 19, 1925.

UNITED STATES RALPH S TOMPKINS, 0F NEWBURGH, NEW YORK.

FELT HAT AND THE LIKE.

Application filed June 6,

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, RALPH S. TOMPKINS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newburgh, in the county of Orange and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Felt Hats and the like, of which the followingis a specification.

The invention has for an object to effect improvements in hats, to the end that a soft felt hat body may be produced in an ornamental form by a novel construction employed therein. It is a special aim to enable the ornamentation of manufactured articles of felt and other materials adapted to similar formation as hereinafter described, to the ends that articles which have heretofore, when manufactured, been of a severely plain character, may, without the addition of attached trimmings, be provided with raised ornamentations of a novel and desirable character.

It is a special aim of the invention to present a novel hat structure which may be produced by simple operations and without requiring excessive expenditure of time and labor in its production; at the same time enabling the use of workers of ordinary skill in this art. l

Additional objects, advantages and features of invention may be understood from the structural details and the method of their production as hereinafter described and shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein,

Figure 1' is a fragmentary elevational view of a hat constructed in accordance with my invention,

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary cross section of the brim centrally of one of the ornamental elements thereon,

Fig. 3 is a similar view intermedia'tely of such element,

Fig. 4 is a plan View of a fragment of the brim, in its initial form,

Fig. 5 is an edge View of a portion of a finished brim,

Fig. 6 is a similar view of a different form of the brim produced by similar methods,

Fig. 7 is an elevational view of a crown portion of a hat constructed in accordance with my invention.

There is illustrated in Fig. 1 an ordinary soft felt hat such as is employed by women, intended to retain its shape with a mod- 1923. Serial No. 643,675.

erate degree of consistency, though adapted to modification of form after the methods familiar in the art. customarily, a felt of moderate thickness is employed in such hats, and my invention has been successfully embodied in hats of'this character having a thickness of about A of an inch, although it may also be applied to hats of greater or lesser thickness as well. With my invention may be applied to the ornamentation of felt and other bodies at intermediate parts, in'Figures 1 to 6, it is represented in use for the ornamentation of the edge portion of a hat brim, where it has had its greatest value thus far. In the hat of Fig. 1, the invention has been utilized to give the hat the appearance of having'a series of regularly spaced balls on the edge of the brim. This is attained by forming in the hat blank, two series of semi-circular slits 11, each slit in one series being alined with an opposed similar slit in the other series. The slits are formed with the ends of the slits of one series presented toward and alined with corresponding ends of the slits in the opposite series, the extremities of these slits being equally spaced from a line parallel to the edge ofthe blank 0f the brim. The outer series have their'ar'cuate portions spaced sufficiently from the edge of the blank to leave adequate material for the formation 'of a line of stitching in the,

edge portion of the blank, whereby it is attached to an inner part of the brim as will be described.

The slits being formed as described, the outer edge portion of the brimiis bent inwardly on a line centrally between the opposed ends of the slits, and laid against the inner part of the brim, to which it is secured by a lineof stitching 18. The distance between the two series of slits, and the line on which the bend '14: 'is' made, as shown in Fig. 3, is such that a tangent from the curve 'of the bent portion at the slits will have a substantial angle to the mean symmetrical projection or continuation of the brim from its" inner portion past the bend. In other words, the slits terminate in the outer part of'the curved edge formed by bending in andstitching the edge of the blank as described; By means of this, the body of the felt being'resilient, and tend ing to resist the bending imparted as described, the lobes 15 within the slits 11 do not bend with the outer'edge portion and I shapes in the lobe elements- It is also un- 1 the inner rim portion beyond the end of the slits, but retain a set, and spring from within the slits and assume a position extending nearly if not quite vertical to the bodyv of the brim thereadjacent. By having the lobes in opposed pairs as shoWn,-tl'1ey"simu-' late balls formed integrally upon the edge of the brim, in the particular embodiment illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5. It is not essential that more than one series of slits be formed, and the form of the slits may be varied to produce different ornamental necessary to have the lobe'elernents in the two series registered with each other, as they may be staggered'or otherwise formed, Fi g. 6 representing a br im'in-which two 'different forms of lobes are formed in respective'series arranged instaggere'd relationon opposite sides-of the line of bend of the brim portion; and the effect" obtainable by omitting one of these series may be appreciated bycovering the projections of the upper orlower part of Fig. 6. v

Various effects other than those illustrated may be obtainedby Varying the POSltlOIliOf the" spacing" of the slits 11' with respect to the line'of' bend, by which the angle of the projecting lobe after bending of the ma terial with respect to the mean. body of the adjacent ortion Ofi material may be determined; hus, in Fig; 7 there is illustrated a further method of forming ornamentation, U-shaped slits 1'75 greatly elongated are formed" at the junction of the crown and'band'of the hat, body-which may be curved more" or less than shown in the illustration, the endsiof' the: slits being preferably located in such manner that there will be: a curved body between the body and the end o'f the slits. Thiswill result: in the lobes fonned' within the slits projecting outwardly beyond the adjacent surfaces and body of the hat, forming an ornamental fringe without destroying the continuity of the hat body. The; lobe elements 18- within the slits l7' will thus be caused to project outwardly from the hatslightly, in case th curve is gradual, ormay proj ct more-saliently, in case an abrupt curve is formed and they will lie without the body portion of the hat'and form a salientafr-inge at all times. The tendency of the felt to' extend in line with the material at the base of the lobe will guard against the lobe or fringe element being thrust, inwardly through the spaces within the slits and thus not show ing and possibly causing an undesirable ap"- pearance in the article.

The slits 1'7 and corresponding parts in various articlesmay be formed before opera 'tions corresponding to the blocking of the hat but. after that corresponding to the fulling of the hat body when it has substantially a conical shape, and the slits may be readily cut thereinbysuitable machinery. If desired, in the formation of the slits, an interruption may be formed in the bight, whereby the lobe part remains attached to the body of the hat sufiicient-ly to retain these within the slits during blocking and other operations, but permitting them to be easily punched out when required.

\Vith a hat constructed in this form and manner, a body is presented requiring much less trimmingfor its proper finishing, and having a unique edge form and appearance, as will be understood.

\Vhat is claimed 1. An ornamental hat body. of thechar' actor described comprising a material: tending markedly to retain a given form and havingivery numerous slits cut therein, each in" a shape to provide a lobe therewithin spaced within the boundaries of the body, and all arranged symmetrically in series, the body being bentmarkedly on a line transverse to the slit's and so secured, the

curved material in the bent part including that near the bases of the lobes whereby the latter are set at a cOnsiderable'angIe: to the major'portion of the materiahand also including that between the lobes, whereby the latter are cleared and exposed: as salient elem'e'nts'standing out: fromthe hat body, the lobes being arranged in a relation to form a unitary ornamentation.

2; A soft f'lt hat having a series of slits of si'ibst'antially u sh'ape' uniformly spaced from line inwardly of and parallel to I the edge of the brim blank, the outeredge of the blank being bent inwardly" and secured to the inner part of the brim, theline of bendbeingl'closely'adjacentthe ends of the slits; whereby'th parts within the slits set out 'from the' body of the brim saliently and form ornamental edge.

8', hat brimhaving a multiplicity of closely spaced substantially U-sha-ped slits formed therein in pair's, forming opposed lbbe's the slits ofea'ch pair'b'eing located on opposite sides of the line of the finished brim in the material and having their ends pi "eseinted toward and closelyadjacent the said line, the outer material of the brim excepting the" lobes being bent sharply inward on said line and so secured, whereby the lobes will project above and below the v brim. V w j 45. A hat fabric of the character described having a multiplicity of slits formed therein forming lobes of ornamental form, the material of the fabric including" the material between but excepting the lobes being bent sharply on a line proximaltothe bases of the slits and secured, whereby the lobes project saliently and produce. a unitary e nb'e'llishment. x v

5; A: hat fabric ofthe' character indicated having a multiplicity of very small symmetrically arranged, closely spaced slits formed therein each shaped to form a lobe, the material of the hat excepting the lobes being bent sharply upon itself transversely of and adjacent the bases of the slits, whereby the lobes project saliently and form a unitary ornamentation.

6. The article set forth in claim 1 in which the article includes a brim and the slits are arranged upon the brim, the outer edge portion of the brim being turned inward to form the curve specified, and an ornamental edging being formed.

7. An edging comprising a piece of folded material having inherent elasticity, and a 15 series of tongues cut in said folded material and having their bases in the fold thereof, said tongues projecting out of the plane of the material.

In testimony whereof I have afiixed my 20 signature in presence of tWo Witnesses.

RALPH S. TOMPKINS. 

